Silent Truths
by Nefra I
Summary: Naruto has died and Konohamaru makes everyone realize everything Naruto did for them. May make it a chapter story later.


Okay, getting inspired is really starting to become a pain. For those of you familiar with me, I've hit a huge slump in my writing. I've got ideas but can't get them written. I'm hoping this will be enough to bring back my muse. Hope you enjoy my first try at a Naruto fanfiction. There will be implied yaoi but no sex. *gasp* The world has ended, I'm not writing sex. LOL!

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto nor do I make any money writing this story.

Silent Truths

Konohamaru stared at the coffin surrounded by all those white and red flowers wondering why they were all there. His hands fisted and he refused to hide the tears most of the gathered shinobi held back. Iruka stood next to him and placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Why?" Konohamaru demanded.

"Naruto died protecting the village Konohamaru." Iruka explained softly.

Konohamaru shook his head violently. "NO!" he shouted and whirled to wave his arm at the people gathered. "WHY ARE ALL THESE PEOPLE HERE?"

"They're here to honor the fallen hokage." Iruka answered. "They're here to lay their friend and hero to rest."

"Friend?" Konohamaru snarled. "Let me fill you in Iruka-sensei. I can almost count the number of people who were actually his friend on both hands and feet."

The gatherers were starting to whisper, worried for the young jounin.

"Konohamaru," Iruka began.

Konohamaru stepped away from the crowd and approached the coffin. "He gave more for this village than my grandfather and no one gave a damn."

"We're his friends," Hinata said quietly. "We cared for him."

Konohamaru's expression softened. "Yes, you were his friend Miss Hinata, you loved him. Your teammates Kiba and Shino were his friends too. Shikamaru, Chouji, Lee, Guy-sensei, Neji, old man Teuchi, Ayame…you were his friends. My genin teammates from the academy were his friends, Kazekage Gaara was his friend along with his siblings. Iruka-sensei…you were like a father figure to him. Some of you didn't know him well enough to call him a true friend; others that could aren't even citizens of this village." His glare returned, "The rest of you didn't give two shits about him and at least two more that cared are dead."

"We were his friends." Sakura exclaimed close to tears.

"Like hell!" Konohamaru shouted back at her. "If you mean a true friend beats the shit out of you whenever you do something they don't like; try to change them to their liking then yes…that's a friend." He glared at Sasuke, "If you mean a true friend puts a literal hole in your chest and runs off then comes back acting like nothing happened and doesn't even bother to attempt an apology then that's a true friend too." His glare landed on Kakashi and it became murderous. "But you…there's no word for what you did to him and you knew you were doing it." The tears fell even faster from Konohamaru's dark eyes he wiped his arm across them and let Iruka approach and embraced him. "I would listen when the villagers talked. After he graduated the academy he would hang out with me. I always heard what the villagers said behind his back, calling him a monster and a demon. They didn't see the awesome person he really was…he was my best friend. When he came back a hero everyone praised the ground he walked on. No one ever once thought to apologize to him for saying all those horrible things. Now he's gone…my big brother is gone."

Iruka quietly led Konohamaru away from the service, the people he'd named as Naruto's true friends followed leaving the rest of the villagers and shinobi to shamefully mull over the words. Those that had been acquainted with Naruto could only stand there not sure what to do. Finally a woman who owned one of the vegetable markets in the village stepped forward with a flower in her hand. She placed it on the coffin and took a deep breath.

"I always chased him out of my store with a broom when he was a child…all he wanted was to buy food. When he was named hokage he asked if I could supply the food for every political banquet he hosted."

A large man stepped up beside her and placed his flower next to hers. "Me and my drinking buddies trapped him down an alley one night when he was about five and nearly beat him to death. After he became hokage he helped me find work to pay off my debt and saved my home."

"I constantly raised his rent when he lived in my apartment building as a kid and made him pay for the damages other villagers would do to his home knowing he couldn't pay for it all." A male voice said from the center of the crowd. "He personally gave me the money from his pocket to fix the place up and set up a contract with the orphanage so those that were too old could move in and he paid their rent to me on time every month until they could make it on their own."

One by one everyone present started calling out the many horrible things they'd done to their now deceased hokage, all asking to be forgiven. The crowd thinned out as they all left to grieve for the boy they'd shunned that became hokage and in return he'd helped them all. Finally only three people remained; the remaining members of the original Team Seven.

"He always asked me out and I turned him down." Sakura whispered. "In return he promised to give me away at my wedding."

Sasuke couldn't help but stare sadly at the coffin. "I put a hole in his chest, tried to kill him and he still thought I was his best friend. He was my best friend."

Sasuke and Sakura turned away from the scene and headed home. Kakashi stood there for an untold amount of time. He watched as the lid of the coffin was closed and lifted from its dais. He followed it to the private cemetery on his sensei's estate where it was placed in the ground between the gravesites of Minato Namikaze and Kushina Uzumaki. The dirt was shoveled on top of the casket and still he didn't move.

Kakashi remained where he was, staring at the grave marker with tightness in his chest he couldn't remember feeling since his father's suicide. He remembered the blonde approaching him that day. The love in those blue eyes had scared the shit out of him but he yearned for it at the same time. He could remember what he did that day and Naruto never acted the same after that. It was as if he'd taken away Naruto's happiness yet the blonde still smiled, goofed off, pulled pranks and was a good hokage. The light in Naruto's eyes had dimmed and nothing could bring it back to its original brilliance.

Kakashi fell to his knees next to the grave and placed his hand in the soft dirt. "He said he loved me…I didn't say it back."

The powerful shinobi lowered his head and wept.


End file.
